- 280 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Throughout Indian history, many authors and performers have produced, and many patrons have supported, diverse tellings of the story of the exiled prince Rama, who rescues his abducted wife by battling the demon king who has imprisoned her. The contributors to this volume focus on these "many" Ramayanas. While most scholars continue to rely on Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana as the authoritative version of the tale, the contributors to this volume do not. Their essays demonstrate the multivocal nature of the Ramayana by highlighting its variations according to historical period, political context, regional literary tradition, religious affiliation, intended audience, and genre. Socially marginal groups in Indian society—Telugu women, for example, or Untouchables from Madhya Pradesh—have recast the Rama story to reflect their own views of the world, while in other hands the epic has become the basis for teachings about spiritual liberation or the demand for political separatism. Historians of religion, scholars of South Asia, folklorists, cultural anthropologists—all will find here refreshing perspectives on this tale.
Throughout Indian history, many authors and performers have produced, and many patrons have supported, diverse tellings of the story of the exiled prince Rama, who rescues his abducted wife by battling the demon king who has imprisoned her. The contributo
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- CONTENTS 1
- PREFACE
- A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
- Larger Patterns
- ONE Introduction: The Diversity of the Ramayana Tradition
- TWO Three Hundred Rdmdyanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation
- THREE Ramdyana, Rama Jataka, and Ramakien: A Comparative Study of Hindu and Buddhist Traditions
- PART TWO Tellings as Refashioning and Opposition
- FOUR The Mutilation of Surpanakha
- FIVE Fire and Flood: The Testing of Sita in Kampan’s Irdmdvatdram
- SIX A Rdmdyana of Their Own: Women’s Oral Tradition in Telugu
- SEVEN The Raja’s New Clothes Redressing Rvana in Meghanddavadha Kdvya
- EIGHT Creating Conversations: The Rama Story as Puppet Play in Kerala
- PART THREE Tellings as Commentary and Programs for Action
- NINE E. V. Ramasami’s Reading of the Ramdyana
- TEN Ramdyana Exegesis in Tenkalai Srvaiavism
- ELEVEN The Secret Life of Ramcandra of Ayodhya
- TWELVE Personalizing the Ramdyan: Ramnamis and Their Use of the Ramcaritmanas
- CONTRIBUTORS
- INDEX